Someone knew what was coming. That’s the core allegation in a federal lawsuit filed by Susquehanna International Group, one of the largest market-making firms in the world, against 100 unidentified defendants accused of using insider knowledge about a Chinese regulatory crackdown to pocket more than $100 million in options profits.
Susquehanna, which was on the losing side of those trades as the market maker, says it absorbed more than $70 million in losses. The firm filed the suit on June 29 in Manhattan federal court.
The trades that raised every red flag
In the two weeks leading up to May 22, 2026, a group of traders purchased roughly $12 million in short-dated put options on shares of Futu Holdings and Up Fintech, the company behind Tiger Brokers. Put options are essentially bets that a stock’s price will fall, and short-dated ones are particularly aggressive. They expire quickly, which means if you’re wrong, you lose everything.
On May 22, Beijing announced a sweeping crackdown on unlicensed cross-border securities services. Futu was hit with a fine of 1.85 billion yuan, roughly $272 million. Both Futu and Tiger Brokers saw their share prices crater.
